Gateway to Hell
by Kez Ramsey
Summary: XO Driven by self guilt, Daniel goes on an unauthorized mission by himself and discovers a strange town called Silent Hill . . .
1. The Consequences of Being Kind

AN: Ha, ha! My first SG-1 fic and my first XO! Two birds for the price of one! Anyways, since I've only seen the first ep. of season 7, this is sorta AU in terms of consistency stuff. Please review so my existence and effort can be validated (and so I know to write more). I don't care what you have to say, as long as you say something! Cheers.

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, only the plot is mine. Konami owns Silent Hilll and MGM owns Stargate.

* * *

". . . so, taking that into account, you can see the entire equation changes drastically," at this Sam turned from her whiteboard to see Daniel's reaction to her discovery. She wasn't surprised when he didn't seem to notice her scrutiny, being too absorbed in his current blank stare. "Daniel, are you even listening to me?"

He shook his head at the sound of his name and immediately looked up at her with his usual polite expression. "I think," he began as he adjusted his glasses on his nose with a finger. "The more pertinent question is whether or not I understand what you're explaining to me. In which case the answer would be . . . no."

Sam gave him an unimpressed look. "I'm talking about the possibility of networking the entire system, here!" she exclaimed in exasperation, partly do to her friend's obvious lack of enthusiasm and her own weariness.

Absorbing the information for a moment, Daniel took awhile to respond. "Yes, well, as far as you and I go, Sam, we're probably the intellectuals out of the bunch – however, aside from that, I'd have to say our expertise isn't exactly complimentary of one another," he paused to gauge her response. "I'm more than happy to act as your sounding board though, but other than that I can't really see how I can be much help."

Sam couldn't help but smile at his candidness. She knew that when she went on about the quantum physics behind the 'gate, she was usually talking miles above most people's heads and usually they would just pretend they understood what she was saying. Daniel generally clarified when she was speaking in the only language he couldn't decipher. "Well, thanks anyway," she said, genuinely appreciative but aware that Daniel was probably bored out of his mind. He'd leave and she would work on this some more or go home to bed.

"So, then, you were saying? Something about a drastic change in your previous calculation?"

"You really don't have to sit through this."

"I know. But what else have I go to do? Besides, if you really are stuck, I always find it helps to voice your thoughts out loud."

Sam nodded and began her pacing again as she continued to dissect the myriad of symbols on the board before them. She was on her sixth lap when Daniel suddenly spoke up:

"Do you ever wonder if we've negatively influenced any of the more primitive civilizations we've visited?"

Sam stopped in midstep, cut short from her train of thought and also a little surprised by the sudden change of topic.

At this Daniel raised his hands in defense. "I was listening, but just when you mentioned something about prime whatever, it got me thinking."

"Prime?"

"You know, the prime directive? Star Trek?"

"Daniel, please, you're starting to sound like the colonel-"

"No, really. They have this rule that states they aren't to interfere with the affairs of inferior races in case contact somehow has some ill-effects later on."

"Daniel, most of the less-advanced peoples we've met we've liberated from the Goa'uld, how could that possibly have ill-effects?"

Daniel pushed himself off the desk he had been leaning on and folded his arms across his chest. A thoughtful expression graced his features. "Well, we were once under Goa'uld subjugation – Earth, I mean – but look how well our civilization flourished."

"Yes, it did – after the Goa'uld left the planet and we were allowed to advance," Sam responded, a little flabberghasted by her colleague's thoughts. "I understand what you're saying, Daniel, but I can't see how eliminating the Goa'uld from the picture could harm any civilization."

Daniel nodded, but it was apparent he was deep in his own thoughts.

"Look," Sam placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I can't say that we've never made a mistake, but I wouldn't be doing this and I know the colonel, Teal'c and even you wouldn't be doing this if we didn't think it was the right thing to do." She was rather concerned for her friend's sudden change of mood.

Daniel said nothing for a long time. He just stared off into the distance, ignoring Sam and her affectionate squeeze of his shoulder. A few awkward moments passed until he finally muttered, "You know, none of this would have happened if we hadn't killed Ra."

"Daniel-"

He waved her away with a gesture of his hand. "I'm sorry, I don't know what I'm saying," and with little ado, left the lab.

. . . . . .

"Have you noticed Daniel acting a little odd lately?" Sam asked O'Neill as she took a sip of her coffee, and he a spoonful of cheerios.

"Daniel?" Jack repeated with his mouth half-full of cereal. Having opted to get an early start on his paperwork, he had nearly forgotten about the most important meal of the day. He answered the question after finishing the bowl off. "No. I haven't noticed – well, he hasn't been so moody lately, but other than that . . ."

Sam eyed the colonel, not sure if the last part was in jest or not.

"Why, what's so odd about his behaviour lately?"

"I don't know. He just didn't seem himself when I last saw him."

"He's probably just tired. I know he and Jonas have been working their butts off trying to figure out that tablet we picked up on P10X 932. 'Fact, if he hadn't taken today and tomorrow off I was going to suspend him or something just to give him some down time."

"Well, he spent the early hours of this morning listening to me try and smooth out my latest hypothesis regarding the Stargate."

"Why the hell would he do that?" Jack blurted, then catching himself decided to rephrase the question. "I mean, how early? What'd he say he was doing there?"

Sam rubbed her brow, the reality of the situation finally catching up with her. "It must have been around four or five this morning." At this Jack cast her his own concerned look. "I didn't mean to," she told him. "I was just about to go home last night when I figured I'd give one last go at this equation I've been working and I managed to make a breakthrough. After I'd proofed what I could I ran into Daniel and asked him if he'd listen to what I had so far. He said he didn't have anything better to do." She took another sip of her coffee. "I guess I just thought he probably had been working through the night like myself."

"So, he wanted to listen to you go through your . . . whatever?" Jack teased. "That isn't just odd – this is serious."

Sam let a small smile pull at the corners of her mouth. "And he also happened to make some obscure Star Trek reference."

"A Star Trek reference? That sounds like me . . . that is odd." Jack stood with a formality that contradicted his casual tone. "He better not still be here, and you, Carter, I want you home getting some rest as well. That's an order."

Sam finished her coffee with a chuckle, "Yes sir."

. . . . . .

"I. Give. Up." Jonas remarked as he tossed the notepad that he had been scribbling on Daniel's way. "You're the linguist, you figure it out."

Jackson snorted at the comment, idly scratching his forehead with the end of a pencil. "There is some way to decipher this," he stated.

"You sound like you're trying to convince yourself, not me," Jonas quipped. He shrugged a little. "We've been at this for three days now, and between the two of us have come up with nothing."

"That's not true," Daniel responded. "We know whatever this language is it shares similar characteristics with Egyptian hieroglyphics, Babylonian text, Mesopotamian-"

"And every other ancient language – so we know it's old," Jonas finished with an edge he didn't intend. As much as he wanted to decode this new mystery, he wasn't as used to multiple day stints as his archaeologist counterpart.

"Maybe you're right," Daniel conceded as he took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "Perhaps we'll just have to wait until some more of this crops up."

"Or . . ." Jonas began with a smirk.

"Or?"

"Well, when you first came back you could miraculously read that other tablet regarding the city of the Lost, right?"

Daniel cut him off before he could get to his point. "So, you're suggesting what? I just ascend again, and then come back with the hopes that I'll know what this one says instead?"

"Well, I'm not saying you have to do it today, but it's always good to keep our options open."

Daniel laughed in reply.

Suddenly, the door to the study swung open to reveal Colonel Jack O'Neill. "What the hell are you doing here, Daniel? And you," he shot a finger Jonas' way. "I thought I told you to take some time off as well."

"Good morning, Jack," Daniel greeted with a mock salute as he turned his attention back to his books.

"Did he put you up to this?" Jack asked of Jonas. "Because I distinctly remember telling the both of you I didn't want to see you here, at all."

"Then close your eyes," Daniel muttered dryly.

Jack motioned for Jonas to leave the room with a nod of his head. "So, are you going to spill, or is there going to be some witty exchange required in order for you to tell me what's up?"

* * *

So, please tell me what you think so I know you want more! Thanks for reading, K. R. 


	2. Nocturna Lingua

Daniel didn't say anything for awhile, didn't even bother to look at Jack. He sat there, staring at the pages of the book he was currently perusing with a hollowness to his features that seemed to magnify as time passed. Jack hadn't noticed the dark circles under his eyes until now nor had he realized how gaunt his friend truly looked. Perhaps he had somehow refused to see the truth, because, of all people, it was cruelly unfair for Daniel to feel like shit. He deserved much better.

"Jack, I appreciate your concern and all, but I really don't want to talk about it," he said simply.

Jack wasn't one to give up so easily. He sat down opposite Daniel and stared at him.

"What?"

"That's fine if you don't want to talk about it, but you are still going against my orders."

"I'm not a soldier, I'm an archaeologist."

"Yeah, but I have this thing with people working themselves to death. I already sent Carter home, and you know Jonas won't quit until you do."

"I'd really just like to be left alone so I can get this done, please."

Jack was through with being polite; he had more than his friend's well being to think of – as commander of his unit, there was a certain obligation he had to carrying out orders, and making sure his team did the same. He stood to his full height. "I'll ask you once more to take a break, after that I call in the MPs and they deal with you. We've got another mission in four days time, and I won't have one of my team members unfit to perform because of some obsessive need to crack a code." He wasn't expecting Daniel's furious and immediate rebuttal:

He stood, slamming his hands on the desk. "And what the hell am I supposed to do, Jack? You want me to take some time off? What do you suggest I do? Shall I go visit my dead wife's planet and reminisce about all the good times? You want me to go and pretend I have this life that I don't? What, tell me! What else have I got to do!"

Jack blinked in response, taken aback by the fury of words. Daniel stood in front of him, matching his hard stare point for point. And if only to block out the image of his friend's despair, Jack closed his eyes as he spoke. "Please, just go to bed and get a couple hours of sleep."

Daniel closed the text shut somewhat childishly and stalked out of the room.

. . . . . . .

Sleep came quickly. He hadn't realized how tired he was until he got to his room. A couple months had passed but he still hadn't bothered to find a place of his own outside the base and so, like Jonas and Teal'c, was a permanent resident of the Cheyenne Mountain facility. Daniel barely managed to get off his boots before his consciousness slipped away from him . . .

_There's a chillness to the air that settles under your skin and causes goosebumps to appear about the most sensitive areas of your flesh. There's a silence that pervades everything like a sweet blackhole of sound. The silence is inviting but also foreboding; something is amiss._

_Daniel walks along the crumbling stone path. He is naked but it doesn't seem to bother him. True, it's cold and somewhat damp out but there's a certain _physical_ element to these aspects that doesn't appear altogether important at the moment. He follows himself through the forest trail, holding his elbow with one had idly as he walks. His naked form doesn't notice him, or is otherwise ignoring him. Daniel doesn't know but he doesn't want to antagonize himself so he keeps a distance back._

_The trees are very lush and being hugged at the base by a thick mist. The mist is very stagnant, more corporeal than ethereal in essence. Even Daniel's feet are hard to see._

_Suddenly a guttural groaning pierces the silence. It sounds unnatural, inhuman. Daniel runs. The path leads, twisting and turning, to a desert where grey sands whip about. The sands stretch on forever and the dark sky that meets them is just as bleak. The groaning continues, but Daniel no longer knows where to go. He treads across the dunes carefully, taking each step with thought._

_As he reaches the summit of a dune, a structure comes into sight. He has seen it many times before._

_The temple is as he remembers it. Fallen into slight disrepair over the millennia, the two obelisks still stand at the entrance, paces in front of the stairs that lead inside. He had fought against a god's army here. Abydos._

_He walks to the threshold of the temple and cranes his head to take in the massive building. Two spheres of light, their radiance obscured by cloud cover, hang over the apex of the pyramid. Daniel peers inside, wondering what might be in there now. Only darkness looks back at him, but it seems to smile all the same. _

_"I don't think I should be dreaming this," he says to himself._

_A small sandstorm whirls about his feet in reply. The air tastes like grit and salt._

_The groaning, Daniel having become used to it unawares stops._

_The coarse winds cease, and before him on the ground, the darkness paints a message. Seven symbols._

_Seven symbols._

. . . . . . .

Daniel woke up with the realization that he had fallen asleep. He turned to the alarm clock on his nightstand and noted that half the day had passed. He didn't feel very rested save for his eyes, which weren't screaming for lack of moisture anymore.

"Well, now that I've complied with orders . . ." he muttered as he sat up and stretched.

A knock came at his door.

"Daniel?"

"Yes? Come in."

Sam opened the door cautiously, peeking her head in before she entered. She smiled when she saw him. "Feeling any better?"

Daniel yawned but shook his head. "No, not really."

"Well, you've been in here for almost two days now."

"What?" He checked his watch and was surprised to find that she was right. Twelve hours hadn't passed, thirty-six had. He blinked as the realization hit.

"What have you been doing in here?"

"Sleeping, and dreaming . . . I think."

Sam stuck her hands in her pocket and eyed her friend.

"What?"

"Nothing, I just came by to see if you wanted to grab something to eat."

"Just finishing the day, now?"

She nodded.

Daniel got up and stretched again. "Sure," he said as he reached for his boots and pulled them on.

"Great," Sam remarked. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to go to the sushi bar by myself." The two of them left.

No one noticed the notebook open on Daniel's bed with the seven symbols scrawled on one of its pages jaggedly.

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A shorter chapter, but I'd like to keep the momentum going. He gets there next chap, I promise! Please review, and thanks for reading! – K.R.

Disclaimer: see chapter one


	3. Sleepwalking

It seemed to Daniel that he was definitely going somewhere and that he definitely had a purpose. He was going to meet someone . . . or was he trying to find someone? Maybe, he just needed a vacation.

He was dreaming again, or was he? He was dressed this time, atleast – the usual field uniform that had innocuously taken over the whole of his wardrobe. The halls of the Cheyenne Mountain Facility were empty, which was a little eerie at best.

"I have to be dreaming," he muttered to himself as he entered the control room.

There was silence suddenly.

The consoles blinked, he stepped forward – but there was no sound. Effortlessly, he dialed in. Beyond the room's plexiglass windows, the Stargate came to life. The iris slowly opened, as the swirling blue vortex beyond materialized. There was a grim smile smeared across Daniel's reflection, but it was not his own.

And then he was before the gate.

In all ofits vastness, all of the possibility . . . there was something simple and small, evenminute.

"Just one foot in front of the other, pal," Jack's voice echoed in his head.

Daniel closed his eyes, as he tentatively touched the gate. A memory played in his mind of the first time the Stargate had been brought to life, the portal-substance sticking to Jack's fingers as he probed it experimentally. He thought of Jack then, of Sam, Teal'c and Jonas – General Hammond and Dr. Fraser.

Was he really dreaming?

One step later, he found out.

>>>>>>> 

"What's up, General? Why the emergency call?" O'Neill asked as he stepped into the briefing room, idly buttoning up his jacket. Carter and Jonas sat around the table.

"We're just waiting on Dr. Jackson," Hammond informed as he sat down.

Carter explained, "There was an unauthorized activation of the Stargate, last night. Well, this morning, actually."

"What?" Jack boggled, sitting down as well. "How is that possible?"

"We don't know," Carter said.

"What's taking Daniel so long?" Jonas demanded suddenly.

"Sleeping in again. I'll go get him," Jack moved to get up.

"There is no need," Teal'c stated as he entered the room. "Daniel Jackson is gone."

"I don't like the sound of this," Jack muttered, rubbing his brow. He and Jonas shared a look.

"Where are the security tapes from last night, General?" Carter asked, trying to ignore the train of thought that was picking at the back of her mind.

"They should be here momentarily," Hammond explained. "Now, what I want to know is how someone managed to run the entire system by themselves without even setting off one of the alarms."

"Where the hell would he have gone?" Jack demanded of no one in particular.

"Sir, you're not thinking that Daniel . . ." Sam trailed off.

"Well, everyone else is thinking it," he defended.

"Look, it's just not possible, right?" Jonas tried. "You've set everything up just to prevent this sort of thing. Besides, he doesn't even know how to work any of the equipment. It has to be something else."

"Then what?" Jack wondered.

As if on cue, a junior office came in with the tapes in question. He set them on the table, saluted, then left. Everyone present stared at the tapes for long moments. With finality, Jack stood, grabbed the first tape and put into the vcr in the corner of the room.

The television monitored showed nothing but static.

Jack tried the next one . . . the one after that.

Static.

"Well, that's odd," he commented after the third try.

"Wait," Sam exclaimed as she rose from her seat. "Let me check something. I'll be right back."

Jonas watched her leave, then turned his attention back to the monitor. He clasped his hands together, face contorting thoughtfully. "So, is there a point to checking for Daniel?"

>>>>>>>> 

"There he is," Sam said excitedly, tapping the screen.

The security footage showed Daniel leisurely walking down a hallway around two am in the morning.

"It doesn't look like anyone is even noticing him," Jonas observed.

Jack studied the image for awhile, watching the tape play out until the camera lost sight of Daniel. "So, where's he heading?"

"The control room," Sam said simply.

Jack sighed loudly. He knew it had to be Daniel who was responsible for the gate's activation. There was only one thing he could think of doing though.He left the room abruptly.

A couple of junior officers saluted as the colonel strode into the control room. There were various technicians running diagnostics all over. The senior techie he pulled aside.

"Can you bring up the last destination dialed in to that thing?" he asked, pointing to the various contraptions that controlled the use of the Stargate.

"Already have, but the co-ordinates aren't for any known destination."

"Well, dial them in."

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Dun dun dah.

Sorry, couldn't resist a little SH reference. Can somebody help me? Does anyone know the name of the guy with the glasses that always doesthe dialing in? Anyways, thanks for reading – please review! – K. Ramsey

Ps- sorry if this chapter was a little choppy.


	4. You Are Here

He sneezed.

The fog was thick and very clingy; it took his eyes a couple of moments to adjust to the dense atmosphere. Daniel sneezed again and decidedly took a few steps forward, away from the gate. Despite the fog, the world coming into view was pleasant. It was oddly quiet and cloud cover obscured the sky, but he could just make out a treeline of conifers up ahead and the climate was just cool enough to be comfortable.

Still, there was something wrong, something was missing. And laughing, he realized what it was: his gear. That damned Air Force issued twenty pounds of extra weight he never seemed to be without. He carried on; it felt good to be free of the burden.

The landscape came more into focus the farther away he sauntered from the Stargate, clearing a path for him. Wading through the ground-level cloud, he passed an abandoned white van in the middle of the road. The passenger's side door lay ajar. Daniel walked closer to investigate. A sudden breeze swept through the area. The sound of paper rattling in the wind. A small map fell from the dashboard of the van onto the passenger's seat.

"Silent Hill," Daniel read aloud as he picked it up. Two vicious streaks of red made an "x" with a small notation beside it that read: You Are Here. Apparently, on the outskirts of town. Another marking, circled around what looked to be the library, had a message of: We Are Here. Daniel stuck the map in his back pocket and adjusted his glasses as he peered deeper into the sinuous fog. "Who's _We_?" he wondered.

"Alright, send in the gizmo," the colonel instructed, as he tapped the table with his fingers impatiently. The team watched as the little remote-surveyor was launched into the watery portal. Minutes later the various consuls devoted to it were beeping and spewing out sheets of data. Jack raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Is that good?" he asked no one in particular.

Sam went over to the consul and began looking at the data while the other techs continued to monitor the progress of the surveyor. She nodded after a couple of moments. "Yes, we're good. The atmosphere is identical to Earth's and there were no initial readings of Jaffa or other Goa'uld technology-"

"Identical? Is that possible?" Jonas wondered.

"But we're having some problems with the rest of the feedback," Sam went on.

"What kind of problems?" General Hammond inquired.

"Well," Carter stood up from the consul. "We only got a small amount of data until this," she hit a button for the monitor and speakers to kick in. White-noise blared over the control room, while the familiar black and white interplay showed on the screen.

Jack groaned deep in his throat. "What does it mean, Major?"

"Hmm," she began. "The surveyor obviously went through fine, so there must be some sort of interference on the other side."

"Like Goa'uld interference?" Jack prodded.

"Well, there were no signs of Goa'uld with the first burst of information sent back, right? It could just be natural," Jonas surmised. "I'm still caught by the atmosphere readouts though."

"Teal'c, do you know of any technology that his this effect?" Hammond asked.

"I do not," he answered.

Jack slapped Teal'c on the back happily. "Well, then it's settled. Let's suit up." He looked to Hammond cautiously who nodded his approval.

"Carter," Jack asked as he took off his goggles to get a better look of the grey world. "Are you sure we've left Earth?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Blah. Sorry, it's so short but my brain is not working so well. Thanks for reading, please review!-k.ramsey

sorry, couldn't remember the right abbreviation for it!


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